The Winners Are Set to Be Announced for the Energy Storage Awards!

Energy Storage Awards, 21 November 2024, Hilton London Bankside

US and European Union partnership on African green energy includes energy storage, off-grid focus

LinkedIn
Twitter
Reddit
Facebook
Email

The US and the European Union have made a fresh pledge to support green energy in Africa, which includes energy storage and off-grid power systems in its remit.

Announced on Friday, the collaboration seeks to support the growth of sustainable energy in Sub-Saharan Africa. Its aim is to contribute to building the “strategic autonomy of our African partners,” European Commission (EC) Commissioner for International Partnerships Jutta Urpilainen said.

This article requires Premium SubscriptionBasic (FREE) Subscription

Enjoy 12 months of exclusive analysis

  • Regular insight and analysis of the industry’s biggest developments
  • In-depth interviews with the industry’s leading figures
  • Annual digital subscription to the PV Tech Power journal
  • Discounts on Solar Media’s portfolio of events, in-person and virtual

Or continue reading this article for free

As such, that includes fostering a just and equitable energy transition for the region, reducing energy poverty, and enabling access to affordable and reliable energy delivered through modern technologies.

Almost two-thirds of people in Sub-Saharan Africa currently don’t have access to electricity at all, and the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed by Urpilainen and USAID Administrator Samantha Powell highlights how this limits access to opportunities in healthcare, education, the economy, and quality of life improvement for about 600 million people.

The US and EU will work together at regional and national level to address that situation, from areas like knowledge sharing, developing flagship projects, empowering women in the power sector, and opening policy dialogue and working on regulatory reform to unlock capital and investment, including from institutional investors.

In terms of technologies, they will focus on small-scale and off-grid power generation from renewable energy sources, which includes electrification of schools and health facilities, businesses led by women and by young people, and rural households.

They will also focus on energy storage, energy efficiency and transmission system development.

The pair’s partnership continues on from work started up from the US side during the Obama presidency in 2015, under the Power Africa initiative, which leverages public-private partnerships.

From the EU side, it falls under the EU-Africa Green Energy Initiative, part of the Union’s Global Gateway programme which aims to mobilise up to €300 billion (US$292.5 billion) investment in supporting energy, digital and transport sector development around the world.

Read the ‘US-EU Memorandum of Understanding between the European Union and the United States of America for a Just and Green Energy Transition and Sustainable Development of the Energy Sector in Sub-Saharan Africa,’ hosted on the EU website, here.

18 March 2025
Austin, Texas
The Energy Storage Summit USA is the only place where you are guaranteed to meet all the most important investors, developers, IPPs, RTOs and ISOs, policymakers, utilities, energy buyers, service providers, consultancies and technology providers in one room, to ensure that your deals get done as efficiently as possible. Book your ticket today to join us in 2025!
18 March 2025
Sydney, Australia
As we move into 2025, Australia is seeing real movement in emerging as a global ‘green’ superpower, with energy storage at the heart of this. This Summit will explore in-depth the ‘exponential growth of a unique market’, providing a meeting place for investors and developers’ appetite to do business. The second edition will shine a greater spotlight on behind-the-meter developments, with the distribution network being responsible for a large capacity of total energy storage in Australia. Understanding connection issues, the urgency of transitioning to net zero, optimal financial structures, and the industry developments in 2025 and beyond.
27 May 2025
London, UK
At the time of writing, Europe had had its most successful year in terms of Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) with a record 7.8GW of renewable energy contracts signed. As we gather in May 2024 for the third edition of the Renewable Energy Revenues Summit, the energy landscape continues to evolve rapidly, influenced by the beating drum of climate change, volatility around power prices and the need to decarbonise power procurement as well as generation.

Read Next

November 12, 2024
National deployment targets should be set for energy storage technologies, the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) Coalition for Action has said.
November 11, 2024
Optimiser Gridmatic and Energy Vault have entered into a 10-year deal for a BESS project in ERCOT, Texas, expected to be online by summer 2025.
November 7, 2024
NYSE-listed battery startup Freyr has pivoted strategy and acquired a 5GW solar module facility in Texas, US, from Chinese firm Trina Solar, the same day that Donald Trump was declared to have won the presidential election (6 November).
November 5, 2024
The US government’s launch of the Regional Clean Hydrogen Hubs program, with a staggering $7 billion investment, marks a critical moment for the green hydrogen industry.
November 5, 2024
The energy ministries of Bulgaria and Romania have both revealed the results of EU-backed tenders for renewables and energy storage, with gigawatts of energy storage being supported.

Most Popular

Email Newsletter